The Little Sister Doesn't Always Get All The Att
by CrazyBuff
Summary: When Spike starts hanging out with her little sister, Buffy gets a case of the green monster
1. Summary

TITLE: The Little Sister Doesn't Always Get All The Attention  
BY: Sunnyshine405@aol.com  
DISCLAIMER: Characters aren't mine. Joss Whedon owns 'em  
SUMMARY: When Spike starts hanging out with her younger sister, Buffy starts to feel ignored...  
CONTENT: Spike/Buffy.   
SPOILERS: Takes place a couple weeks after the events in "The Body" (season 5).   
RATING: PG  
FEEDBACK: Yes, please!  
A/N: I have had this story out on my website forever, but i'm still stuck on how i should finish.. any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. 


	2. ch 1

Buffy angerily threw her frozen dinner into the microwave. She was positivily livid.   
*How dare he!* she fumed silently as she pounded on the numbers.  
She could not believe Spike had the nerve to show up at her house. And stay.  
She was furious at him for that.  
She also could not believe that her sister had invited him in, breaking the deinvite spell Willow had done to keep the blond vampire out.  
Her sister was going to get a peice of her mind later tonight.  
And most of all, she could not believe she had let him sit down on the couch to watch a movie with her baby sister. That she hadn't staked his ass. That she had simply stomped back into the kitchen, letting him stay.  
After she was done yelling at her sister, she was going to go on patrol. And beat the living hell out of all blonde vampires.  
The vampires wern't going to stand a chance. Them agianst an angry Slayer.  
As her food warmed, Buffy spyed on the two figures in the living room.  
Dawn was leaning trustingly agianst Spike. They looked way, way too comfy. That made her even madder.   
She clenched her fists, seething.   
*I don't have to put up with this, I'm the damn Slayer!*  
It was time for action.   
She stormed over to them, standing in front of them, effectivly blocking the t.v.  
"Buffy! I can't see." Dawen complained, looking up at her, like nothing was wrong. Like she wasn't practically laying on Spike.   
"Too damn bad" Buffy growled. "Get up"  
"What?" Dawn asked innocently.  
"You heard me. Get up, Dawn" Buffy ground out.  
Rolling her eys, Dawn slipped out from under Spike's arm and stood, facing Buffy.  
With Dawn out of the way, Buffy held back none of her anger. She seized the front of Spike's t-shirt and yanked him up, backing him to the nearest wall, slamming him up agianst it, hard, still holding onto his shirt.  
"Bloody hell!" He yelled as she did this.   
She let go of his shirt, only to press her hand up agianst his neck, keeping him up agianst the wall.  
"Get out" She said to him in a voice that told him she meant bussiness. Then she let go.  
He turned and walked out the door.   
Dawn gave her older sister a look and rushed out the door after him.  
"Dawn.." Buffy warned as she went out the door. She walked over to the doorway, watching as Dawn caught up to the vampire.  
  
******  
  
"Spike" Dawn said as she reached his side.  
He stopped walking.  
"Yeah?" he responded, looking over at her.  
"Will you come back tomarrow?" She gave him the puppy dog eyes. "Please?"  
"What about...?" He asked nodding his head towards the front door, where he knew Buffy was watching every second from.  
"Look, I'll talk to her. She's got no reason to act like such a bitch." Dawn replied bitterly.  
Spike raised his eyebrows at her language.  
"What? She is acting like one. And besides, I'm 14 years old. I'm not a baby." Dawn informed him.  
"I know, luv." He assured her, smiling slightly.  
"Ok. Well, um, see you tomarrow?" She asked hopefully.  
"Count on it" Spike replied, winking at her. She smiled and ran back to her house.  
  
******  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Buffy demanded, walking over to Dawn, who was sitting on the couch, swooning over Spike. She stood in front of her sister and put her hands on her hips.  
"Sitting?" Dawn said, faking complete innocence.  
"You invited Spike into our house! We did that deinvite spell for a reason." Buffy reminded her.  
"Fine! I'll meet him somewhere else then!" Dawn said, ligfting her chin defiantly.  
"Like hell you will! I am not going to let you go out and meet him alone!" Buffy shouted at her.  
"Then he comes here. He's my friend, whether you like it or not."   
"You cannot hang out with Spike. I thought I made that clear."   
"Why? Why does it bother you so much?"   
"Because he's trying to use you to get to me"  
"Hello? Buffy, the world does not revolve around you! Everything he does is not about you. He told me that he thinks of me like his own sister. He wants to hang around me. He could care less if its going to win points with you or not." Dawn ranted. She stood and faced her sister.  
"Why do you want him around, Dawn? You have me and the gang."   
"Because Spike knows what its like to be an outsider. To not belong. He understands me in a way nobody else can."  
"Dawn. You belong here, though. He shouldn't feel like he does, coz he doesn't."  
"Please, Buffy. Just let him hang out around here. You don't have to deal with him at all if you don't want to. Just let me see him. He's like the big brother I never had. I love him." Dawn admitted.  
"How could you feel that way about him, a monster, a vampire?"  
"I just do."  
"Fine. But keep him away from me, unless I say otherwise. Are we clear?"  
"Crystal. Thank you. I know he's not exactly you're favorite person..."  
"Way not"  
"..but you just havn't given him a chance."  
"That's because I don't want to."  
"Whatever. I'm going to bed. Good night" Dawn headed up the stairs.  
Buffy sighed and sat on the couch, lost in her thoughts. 


	3. ch 2

Both Buffy and Dawn looked up from the mess they were making in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.  
Dawn gave a Buffy a look that told her to stick to the promise.  
Buffy had wanted to make sure she could trust Dawn with Spike. She was going to hang out with them that night.  
Dawn made her promise to be nice and actually try to make it fun.   
A flour covered Buffy answered the door to see Spike standing there, looking nervous.  
"Like the look, luv" he said, looking her over. She had flour all over her.  
Buffy couldn't help but glare at him before moving out of the door way so he could come in.  
"I'll be sticking around tonight. I'm still very recluctant to this you-hanging-out-with-my-little-sister thing." Buffy informed him leading him into the kitchen.  
Spike stepped into the room to see an also flour covered Dawn. She saw him and smiled.  
"Hey Spike! We're making some cookies. Wanna help?"  
"Tell me now, am I going to end up as powdery as you two?" he asked catiously.  
"You bet!" Dawn responded, grinning even more.  
"I had to ask." He groaned before moving over by Dawn.  
"Buffy, why don't you check on the batch in the oven?" Dawn suggested, trying to get her out of earshot.  
"K" Buffy did as asked.  
"Just act normal around her tonight,ok?" Spike nodded. "I made her promise not to be a party pooper."  
"They're not done yet" Buffy told Dawn as she walked over to the conter that sepearated her from Dawn and Spike.   
"Ready to make more?" Buffy asked, forcing herself to smile at her sister, even though Spike was standing there.   
Then the phone rang.  
*Saved* Buffy thought.  
"I'll get it" She quickly offered. She grabbed the portable on the other counter and pushed the on button.  
"Hello? Oh hey Will."  
Dawn perked up her ears, easvdropping as usual.  
"I'm ok, you?" Buffy switched the phone to her other ear. "Oh, I'm making cookies with Dawn... and Spike. Yes Spike..... I'll explain later.... Dawn invited him in.... yeah... oh that sounds like fun.... sure I'll go... what time?.... okay I'll be ready.... see you then... bye"  
Buffy hit the off button and put the phone back on the charger.  
"What'd Willow want?" Dawn asked curoisly.  
"She wants me to go to this party tommarrow. Do you guys think you'll be ok without me?"  
"Uh huh, of course." Dawn replied quickly. She wanted to be alone with Spike. With Buffy there, there was tension in the air.  
"So, uh, what about those cookies?" Spike asked, breaking the silence.  
  
*****  
  
Buffy, Dawn, and Spike had just put the second batch of cookies in the oven, and were waiting on the first batch to cool down. They were getting ready to clean the flour-covered kitchen. Thats when Dawn realized something. Spike did not have a single patch of flour on him.  
"Hey, how'd Spike manage to escape the flour?" Dawn complained.  
Buffy closed the refrigerater and turned to look at the vampire.  
"Huh" She contemplated. She smiled devishly. "We'll have to do something about that, won't we?" She grabbed a handful out of the bag.  
Dawn giggled, glad that her sister was starting to get fun. And she wasn't exluding Spike.  
She also grabbed as much as she could of the powder.  
Spike's eyes widened.  
Buffy slowly prowled towards him, intent on covering him with the stuff. He backed away enough for Dawn to be able to sneak up behind him. She dumped her handful over his peroxide blond head.  
Spike shouted as the soft powder fell down him.  
Buffy took one look at the floury vampire standing in shock in her kitchen and started cracking up. She was laughing so hard that she had to grab the counter to keep herself from falling over.  
Spike growled playfully at the laughing Slayer. He reached into the bag.   
He walked over to her, taking advantage of the fact that she was laughing too hard to realize what he was doing. He tossed it at the front of her.  
Buffy shreiked as flour covered her shirt, her chest and her face. She wiped the flour away from her eyes to see Spike smirking at her.  
Dawn watched in shock as her sister, who she thought was going to be no fun at all, tackled Spike to the floor. Dawn coughed as flour clouded from the impact of two flour covered bodies.  
Spike thought the Slayer looked absolutly adorable covered in the flour. He was also enjoying being pinned by her very much. But he wasn't going to let her get the upper hand because of it.  
Buffy screamed agian when Spike rolled them over so he was on top, also rolling them into a row of cabinets. She threw him as gently as she could off of her, and proceded to try to crawl fast away from him. He was having none of it. He pounced on her, sending them rolling across the kitchen, hitting the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen, in a tangle of limbs.  
When Buffy found herself on the bottom agian, she did the only thing she could think of. She reached up, having a free hand, and poked at his stomach. Spike gasped as she attacked him by tickling. He released the hold he had on her, and tryed to get away from her attacking fingers. He sat up, only to have her crawl onto his lap, without relenting.  
"Not... fair.." He managed.  
She simply grinned at him. To her surprise he smiled back. Then he reached up and tickled her. She yelped, stopping her attack on him. But he wasn't finished yet. She squirmed off of him, shreiking and laughing.   
Dawn cleared her throat. The two imediantly stopped and looked up at her at the same time. Dawn tried her best to keep a straight face, but the sight of her sister half ontop of Spike, both of them covered in flour was too much for her.  
"As interesting as this is, we need to clean the kitchen, not make it worse." She told them, as soon as she was done laughing at the sight before her.  
Slayer and vampire scrambled to their feet, sheepishly brushing the powder off their clothes.  
  
******   
  
"If I have known the Slayer was ticklish, my ambush tatics would have been quite different back when I was Big Bad." Spike joked as they were sitting on the couch watching a movie, eating the cookies they had made.  
"Same to you, Bleach Job." She shot back at him.  
Dawn had noticed that Buffy and Spike were acting noticably calmer towards each other since the flour fight. She was glad. But also annoyed her that her sister was getting all of Spike's attention.   
Buffy had snuck little hateful glares at Spike when she knew Dawn was looking, telling her silently that her niceness didn't mean anything, that things would be back to normal after that night.  
But truthfully, Buffy didn't think that things could ever be the same agian. This was the one night that she had actually opened herself up to Spike, and given him the chance to open up to her. She hated to admit that what she saw wasn't bad at all.   
"I'm not the only one here with artifical hair color." He answered, giving her a look.  
"Yeah, well, at least mine doesn't look completly fake." She replied giving him one of her own looks.  
"Sure 'bout that, luv?"  
"What's with the luv thing? Why do you always feel the need to use endearments?" She asked out of the blue, making a face. She actually really did want to know.  
"Don't know, pet." He said, emphasizing 'pet'.   
"Well, see, I'm not your luv, or your pet." She tilted her head to one side, giving him a look of amusement.   
"So?" He asked.  
"So... what gives?"  
Dawn, annoyed, cut into their pathetic exuse for a conversation. "Okay, before you guys start arguing about something more stupid, I'm cutting in."  
They both looked at her.  
Dawn noticed agian, for the second time that night just how perfect they looked together. They were both sitting up on the couch, Buffy with one leg up on the couch, under the other. The first time she had noticed was when they were on the ground tickling each other. She didn't care if she was being selfish; she wanted Buffy to stop stealing her time with Spike. She'd have to keep them apart after tonight.   
"Let's just watch the movie ok guys?" Dawn asked, turning towards the t.v.  
  
******  
  
Dawn turned to look at Buffy after she closed the door.   
"So, wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, huh?" Dawn asked her sister with a smirk on her face.  
"Worse," Buffy replied.  
"Oh, so when you guys were rolling on the floor, you laughing meant it was horrible." Dawn said giving Buffy a look.  
"I promised not to be mean" Buffy said simply, even as her cheeks reddened a little.  
"Uh-huh" Dawn said in a way that told Buffy she didn't believe her at all.   
"What are you trying to say?" Buffy asked wearily. "I don't feel THAT way about Spike."  
"I know. But that doesn't mean you guys can't be friends,"   
"He's a vampire, Dawn," was all Buffy could think of to say. "And just drop it cuz you're lucky I'm letting him stay over here tomarrow while I go to that party."  
Dawn simply rolled her eyes at Buffy's back as she started picking up the plates from the table. 


	4. ch 3

"Dawn are you sure its going to be fine with you all alone with him?" Buffy was asking Dawn nervously.   
They were waiting for Spike to arrive so that Buffy could go to her party.  
"Yes, for the billionth time. You can trust him. At least give him that."  
"Well, I guess I have trusted him to take care of you before..."  
The doorbell sounded.  
Dawn opened the door.  
"Hi Spike!" She chirped, letting him in. She turned to her sister. "You can go now, Buffy."  
"Oh boy, I feel wanted around here." Buffy teased as she pulled her sister into a hug. "Be good" She pulled back. "Both of you" She finished shooting a look to Spike.  
"We will. Bye Buffy" Dawn said hurridly, practically pushing Buffy out the door.  
"Have fun, pet" Spike said pleasantly.... before Dawn slammed the door in her face.  
  
*****  
  
"God, finally she's gone!" Dawn sighed with relief as she locked the door.  
"Sister problems?" Spike guessed.  
"She's having a cow about leaving me alone here with you."  
"She's just worried about you, you know that." Spike reasoned.  
"Whatever. Let's go find something to do."  
  
*****  
  
Buffy let out a loud sigh as she sat on the plush couch on the side of the dance room. The party was hopping, but she just wasn't in the mood. Sure, she had danced, talked, and tried to have fun. Her mind was completly somewhere else tonight. She couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Dawn was all alone with Spike at her house.   
*Even if that wasn't a factor, this party would probably be dull to me anyway* She resoned in her head.  
She hated to admit that hanging out with Dawn and Spike had been soo much more fun. And that she had mostly hung out with Spike.  
*Maybe I should give the party another chance*  
She looked around at all the moving bodies.  
*Yeah, right*  
With another sigh she stood up and went over to where Willow and Tara were dancing.  
When they saw her they both smiled.  
"Hey Buffy," Willow exclaimed cheerily, "having fun?"  
"Actually, kinda not. I'm just gonna call it a night,okay?"  
"Are you sure?" Tara asked, concern in her voice.  
"Yeah, I'm just gonna back home and see what Dawn and Spike are up to."  
*And for some reason, I'm happy to do that*  
  
******  
  
Buffy opened the front door to her house to hear Dawn laughing.   
*Looks like they're having fun* She thought.  
Dawn looked up at Buffy from her seat on the floor.   
"You're home early." She didn't sound too happy about that.  
"Yeah. The party was pretty dull." She responded.  
"Oh. Does that mean Spike has to leave?" Dawn asked disapionted.  
"No. He can stay. Don't mind me." Buffy told her, just a bit upset about the fact that Dawn and Spike so didn't really look like they wanted her there.  
She set her purse on the table next to the door and hung her jacket up, before turning back towards them.  
"...Isn't that just like so wack or something?" Dawn was saying. "Teachers totally treat us like we aren't entitled to our own opions."  
"Oh I know what you-" Buffy started.  
"I thought you were going upstairs or something." Dawn interrupted, annoyed.  
Buffy's smile faded and her face fell.  
"Well, I was just going to say something ab-"  
"Whatever. Can you go now?"  
Buffy opened her mouth to say something, decided agianst it and headed for the stairs.  
"Geez, sometimes Buffy just can't take a hint can she?" 


	5. ch 4

Two weeks later  
  
Ding dong!  
"Oh, Spike's here!" Dawn squeled exicited.  
"Yeah" Buffy answered without enthusiasiam.  
Dawn swung the door open.  
Spike stepped in.  
"Hey, how's my favorite little Summers?" He asked her, ruffling her hair.  
Dawn giggled.  
Buffy rolled her eyes.  
She hated it when he did that.  
Spike looked over at Buffy. That was his only indication that he even realized she was there.  
She slightly nodded her head in response.  
"So, Nibblet, what's on the to do list today?" Spike asked as they walked right past Buffy into the living room.  
Buffy took one last look at the pair before walking up the stairs and straight into her bedroom.  
She slid slowly to the floor in front of her bed.  
She let the tears fall as she sobbed silently.  
The daily routine every since that day of the frat party.  
  
*******  
  
Buffy, who had stopped crying a good fifteen minutes ago, was laying on her bed, trying to figure out why she let the whole Dawn/Spike thing get to her. She already knew that part of it was that Spike seemed to not love her anymore. That bothered her more than she would have liked. Also the fact that Dawn seemed to be shutting her out too upset her. But somehow, instinctivly, she knew there was more to it than that.  
*Stop trying to fool yourself. You already know why it bothers you so much* That annoying little voice in he head that always seemed to be right told her.  
She knew she knew what was going on with herself. But she just couldn't quite figure it out.  
*That's because you can't figure it out. Its just the way it is*  
  
******  
  
Dawn was in the middle of arguing with Spike about Dawson's Creek, while she was secretly worring about her sister.  
"How can you say that it's a bad show?" she was saying when suddenly a reason to her sisters weird behavior hit her.  
"Well its just that-"  
"Spike" Dawn cut him off, looking at him with wide eyes.  
"What, luv?"  
"You don't think Buffy's been acting weird latly because I hurt her feelings, do you?" Dawn asked catiously.  
"I thought you knew that" Spike said, surprised. "I just thought, maybe you didn't really care."  
"I had no idea! A-and of course I care!" Dawn stood up from the couch and started pacing. "God, how could I be so stupid and mean!? What am I going to do?" She stopped in front of Spike, who had also stood.  
"I think that I should go home so that you can go talk to her. I'll come back tomarrow to see how things are." Spike suggested.  
"Okay." She followed him to the door. "Thank you." She said as he opened it.  
"Welcome. Good luck, little bit. See you tomarrow."  
"Bye Spike" Dawn shut and locked the door. Then turned towards the stairs determidly.  
  
*******  
  
Dawn opened the door to he sister's bedroom as she called softly, "Buffy?"  
She saw Buffy look up at her from her position on the floor in front of her bed. Buffy wiped quickly underneath her eyes as she stood. "Dawn? What are you doing in here? What happened to Spike?" She asked, her voice faltering on Spike's name.  
"He left. I think we need to talk. Were you crying just now?" Dawn asked, obvious concern in her voice.  
"Crying?" Buffy echoed weakly. "Why would I...." She tralied off, looking at the ground.  
"Have you been doing this every day?" Dawn asked in shock.  
"Every since the night of the frat party," Buffy answered quietly.  
"Oh Buffy..." Dawn came foward to embrace her older sister. Buffy hugged her back, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "C'mon, let's sit down and talk about this" Dawn said soothingly.  
Buffy only nodded before she sat on her bed. Dawn sat next to her.  
"Is it because of how I've been acting?" Dawn questioned.  
"That's part of it." Buffy sniffled.  
"I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize what I was doing. Will you forgive me?" Dawn pleaded.  
"Of course" Buffy assured her.  
*Part of it??* Dawn suddenly registered what Buffy had said.  
"What's the other part?" Dawn demanded.  
"Spike" Buffy replied softly.  
"Oh, You feel like he's ignoring you too, right?" Dawn guessed.  
"Yeah" Buffy answered sadly.  
"But, I don't get it. Why does it bother you so much?"  
"Cuz he doesn't love me anymore, if he ever did, and I love him so much and there's no way I can ever tell him or work things out or-"  
"You're in love with Spike?!?" Dawn interupted, voice filled with shock.  
"Oh God, you're not going to tell him are you???" Buffy asked, scared, grabbing Dawns hand.  
"No, I won't. If he's gonna know, you have to tell him."  
"I can't just go up to him tommarrow and say that."  
"You don't have to. We have to get you two talking agian." Dawn explained.  
"Dawn, I think he makes it pretty obvious that he wants nothing to do with me. He comes over here to see you, not for me to force myself into you guy's time. I bet he hates me."  
"Well, sure, I don't know how he feels about you, but I know he does not hate you."  
"You really think so?"  
"I know so"  
"So, are you saying I start hanging out with you guys, and just slowly start flirting with him or something?"  
"Hey, that's a pretty good plan." 


	6. ch 5

Ding Dong!  
"Oh, Spike's here" Dawn smiled brightly at Buffy before running to get the door.  
"Yeah" Buffy replied smileing also.  
Dawn swung the door open.  
Spike stepped in.  
"Hey, how's my favorite little Summers?" He asked her, ruffling her hair.  
Dawn giggled.  
Buffy rolled her eyes.  
She hated it when he did that.  
She'd rather have him do that to her.  
Spike looked over at Buffy. That was his only indication that he even realized she was there.  
"Hey" she said cheerily.  
He looked a little surprised for a minute, than he seemed slightly pleased.  
"Hey. So, Nibblet, what's on the to do list today?"   
"We're going to the park with Buffy." She looked over at Buffy and winked, unbeknowest to Spike.  
"Really? I see you guys worked things out." Spike said, relief in his voice. He liked it when Buffy hung out with them. True she only had once before, but it had still been fun. Especially the part where he got to spend time with her.  
"Yup" Dawn chirped. "Let's go!"  
  
*******  
  
"Hey, there's some people from my school over there," Dawn said, nodding over to the slide, where a group of girls stood. "I'm gonna go talk to them, k?" She stopped her swing and walked over to her friends.  
"Hmm, I guess we're just not cool enough. Second choice and all that." Buffy joked as she lightly swang on her swing.   
"Speak for yourself. Dawn thinks I'm totally cool" Spike joked back, smiling slightly at her.  
"Totally? I think you've hung out with Dawn a little too much," Buffy teased him.  
"Well, yeah, I see her every night," Spike reminded her.  
"What would the vampire comunitty think if they found out, from someone so not me, that William the Bloody was hanging out with a 14 year-old, no less the Slayer's sister?" Buffy pretended to consider the possiblity.  
"I think that they would probably hunt me down, luv." Spike answered her, somewhat serious.  
"Wouldn't want that," Buffy replied, a mischeif sparkle in her eyes.  
"No, we wouldn't."   
They smiled at each other before turning their concentration on the ground in front of them. They remanined silent for several minutes, before:  
"So, uh, Dawn really hurt your feelings with the way she was ignoring you and all, huh?" Spike asked suddenly, looking back over at her, genuwine concern writen over his features.  
"Yeah. I mean we're sisters, ya know? And you guys were holding the nightly ignoring-Buffy-club. So, yeah it got to me." Buffy admitted to the blonde vampire.  
"You felt like *I* was ignoring you?" Spike asked, taken aback slightly.  
"Weren't you? At least to some extent?" Buffy questioned, looking over at him.  
"Well, you did make it pretty clear that you didn't want anything to do with me." Spike pointed out, giving her a confused look.  
"Yeah, I guess I did." Buffy looked down at the ground. "That was before I saw past the whole soulless demon thing. When I actually gave you a chance to show me who you really are. I was just so stuck on the whole vampire thing. After everything that happened with Angel... it just seemed like such a big deal...." She risked looking him in the eye, "I know that's no excuse, but do you understand why I acted the way I did?"  
"Yeah, I do," Spike assured her. "But I don't get what you're trying to say."  
"I'm saying that I want you in my life. Every since that day we all made cookies together, I knew I couldn't keep pretending to hate you. And then after that, Dawn started pushing me away from her... and you. It really got to me. I started thinking how bad of sister I must of been, to make her completly ignore me. I felt she hated me for everything... being the Key, what happened to mom...."  
"She'd never blame you for those things," Spike told her, trying to reasure her.  
"I know that now. I just felt like.. like I was all alone. I couldn't help but think that... and that you hated me for rejecting you.. maybe that you realized you never really loved me." Buffy finished quietly, breaking her gaze on him. "Right after mom died, I... I felt like I could depend on you to always be there. Even though I was trying to convince myself that I hated you. I still knew. I could feel you, standing outside... like you were watching over me. And I felt safe because of that.   
"I got so upset when you started hanging around my sister all the time, it was like...like the person that had been there for me just moved on, when I was ready to stop lying to myself. So, to make this long story short, I'm trying to say that I'm glad you take care of my baby sister... but that I still need you to watch over me too, be my friend."  
Spike's dead heart consticted at her words. She wanted him in her life, to be by her side, be her friend.  
"Buffy, you can depend on me. I'll always be here for you, luv, always. I'd be more than happy to be your friend. And pet?" Buffy looked over at him. "I could never, ever hate you. I told you before, you wouldn't listen then, but I think you'll listen now... I am madly, insanly in love with you, and nothing is going to stop me from feeling that way."  
Tears of happiness ran down Buffy's face as she brought her swing as close to his as she could and wrapped her arms around him.   
"Thank you" She whispered.  
  
******  
  
"Hey what's up with your friend Spike and your sister? Are they like going out or something?" Audrey asked Dawn, eyeing the blondes on the swings.  
"Huh?" Dawn asked, turning her attenetion to her friend.  
Audrey tilted her head towards the two people in question.  
Dawn followed her stare. She smiled when she saw them pulling away from an embrace.  
"Well, they weren't before we came here. But I don't know about now."  
"Let me guess... They were totally crunching on each other and didn't realize it."  
"Nope, try that they're completly in love with each other, but they don't know the other feels the same." Dawn answered with a smug smile.  
"Get out!" Audrey exclaimed. "They're in love?"  
"Shh, not so loud. And yes. If you ever hang out with them together, you'd totally be able to tell."   
"Oh, can I? I absolutly love playing matchmaker... you know that!" Audrey gushed.  
"Alright, I'll tell them that you're coming over tommarrow night when we walk back home." Dawn agreed, smileing.  
"Oh cool!" Audrey squeled. "So while we're still here, tell us some stories about them! I want to know *everything*."   
"Well, a couple of weeks ago, we were making cookies and me and Buffy were like covered in flour. Get this: Spike didn't have a fleck on him!"  
"How dare he" Audrey aggreed.  
"I know, so me and Buffy grab some flour, and he gets all panicked. I dumped a whole handful over his head! It was so funny. Buffy was laughing so hard that she didn't notice that he was about to dump some on her. Well, until he did anyway. So she screams and TACKLES him to the floor. So their rolling around tickling each other!"  
"Oooh, do you think they'll do something like that while I'm there?" 


	7. ch 6

"So what's this friend of yours name?" Spike was asking Dawn.  
"You mean the one coming over tonight?" Spike nodded. "Audrey."  
"Was she at the park last night?"   
"Uh huh. And she's nice and very friendly. Buffy's met her before. Audrey likes her." Dawn smiled slightly. "Who knows why." She joked.  
"Hey, I heard that." Buffy told Dawn as she entered the living room.  
"Your point?" Dawn asked, looking up at her sister as she walked over to the couch.  
Buffy gave her a look before sitting on the floor in front of her and Spike.  
"So when is she gonna-" Buffy was cut off when the doorbell rang and Dawn jumped up to get the door. ".. get here."   
"Hey Buffy! Hi Spike! Dawn told me *all* about you, " Audrey greeted, grinning.  
"I doubt that" Buffy said under her breath. Spike overheard and smiled slightly.  
Audrey pulled Dawn to the side slightly.  
"Why aren't they sitting next to each other?" Audrey whispered to her.  
"Don't worry about it." Dawn whispered back. "They pretty much get to the flirting themselves... they just need that extra push."  
"That's why I'm here!" Audrey said before heading back over to the couch.  
"So, do you hang out here a lot?" Audrey asked Spike.  
Dawn giggled, "Only, like all the time."  
"Yeah, poor Spikey doesn't have a life so he has to disrupt ours," Buffy added with a grin.  
"Hey now, I'll have you know, I do plenty of other things," Spike replied, slightly insulted.  
"Like what? Read Anne Rice novels?"   
Dawn laughed. Audrey looked at her, eyebrows raised.  
"I don't get it," She said.  
That only made them all laugh harder. 


End file.
